Taliban halt talks on U.S. soldier

Insurgents overrun base, kill 21 Afghan soldiers in bunks

By COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPOR

Posted: February 24, 2014 at 3:23 a.m.

Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Afghan soldiers man a checkpoint after Taliban attack in the Ghazi Abad district of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, Feb.23, 2014. Hundreds of heavily armed Taliban insurgents attacked thecheckpoint on Sunday, officials said, killing 21 soldiers in the deadliest single incident for the Afghan army in at least a year.(AP photo/Roohullah Anwari)

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban said Sunday they had suspended “mediation” with the United States to exchange captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, halting — at least temporarily — what was considered the best chance yet of securing the 27-year-old soldier’s freedom since his capture in 2009.